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Sunday, February 05, 2012

A Quick Chat with SAM HUMPHRIES

In April, Boom Studios will release Fanboys vs. Zombies, a comic series about zombies crashing San Diego Comic Con, written by Sam Humphries. Humphries is a star of the self-publishing comic scene, who created Our Love Is Real, as well as helping to adapt and working on the series John Carter: Gods of Mars for Marvel, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’s characters.

Your next series is Fanboys vs. Zombies. How would you introduce it to a new reader?

I would refer them to the title! You read that, and you get it. It’s an action/horror/comedy about a group of friends trying to survive a zombie infestation at Comic Con. It is ridiculous and funny and terrifying.

How were you introduced to comics, and what is your favourite comic book memory?

I got a three pack of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars for my birthday when I was a kid. All the big time Marvel heroes were in there! It ruled my young life so hard. After that, I was hooked for life.

A recent favorite comic book memory is signing a copy of OUR LOVE IS REAL for Jim Steranko at Comic Con 2011. That guy is such a stone cold pimp. I could hardly believe it was really happening.

How do you enjoy being a writer and working within the comics industry? Do you have any specific working and writing practices?

When writing, I like to disconnect my computer from the internet with a program called Freedom. That tiny app has changed my writing habits more than anything in a long, long time. I don’t drink coffee, so I lean on green tea a lot. A good pair of headphones and a large music library helps too.

When did you realize you wanted to be an author, and what was your first foray into writing? Do you still look back on it fondly?

It was a slow process of burning, smoldering desire. I’ve always written a lot, from random blah blah as a kid, to Important Fiction in high school and college, to a copywriting stint where I’d churn out thousands of words on insane deadlines.

I recently found a comic strip I made in sixth grade. It ended with me killing my math teacher with a guillotine. I’m quite proud of it.

What are you reading at the moment (comics, fiction, and/or non-fiction)?

Comics: POWR MASTRS by C.F.

Fiction: Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Non-fiction: The White Album by Joan Didion

Journalism: The New Comics, an out-of-print omnibus of Comics Journal interviews from the 80s

Nutrition information: This frozen burrito

What’s something readers might be surprised to learn about you?

I have three arms. The third is like a tiny T. Rex arm that can never stop moving. It’s totally horrifying.